As soon as Luke Littler hit his final double to become the youngest World Darts Champion in history, chatter started about whether he could beat Phil Taylor’s record.
Phil Taylor won 16 World Darts Championship trophies between 1990 and 2013, a record that many thought would never be beaten.
After Luke Littler’s arrival on the scene in 2024 at the age of 16, many questioned whether The Nuke could be the player to beat it.
With at least another 20 years of darts available to him and his first trophy under his belt, there is every chance he could do the once unthinkable.
The Power agrees although he thinks there might be one key stumbling block for the Warrington teenager.
Phil Taylor says players will ‘raise their game’ against Luke Littler
Taylor was a dominant force in the PDC, winning 65 other major tournaments on top of his World Darts Championship record.
The Power was feared on tour and very rarely slipped up, but he noticed a key detail about his opponents that he believes could affect Littler too.
Talking about Littler’s chances of beating his record, Taylor believes it could prove tricky because players will up their game against The Nuke.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Taylor said: “You get what I used to call the Man Utd syndrome – and Liverpool have got it as well – where everybody raises their game against you, so you have to be at your best in every round.
“And it can take its toll on you. Especially when you get beaten because everyone questions you: ‘Why did he lose? What was wrong with him? Why has his bubble burst?'”
Littler has already suffered some disappointing setbacks in his debut season in the PDC, including falling at the first hurdle in the World Grand Prix and the World Matchplay.
While Littler often recovered spectacularly from these disappointments, Taylor claims Littler will have to keep doing it time and time again and it becomes a challenge.
Taylor continued: “Everybody loves to see you up there, and then they love seeing you get knocked off as well. It’s how you take it, but I think he is mentally strong enough to deal with it.”
Littler defends his Bahrain Darts Masters crown at the World Series of Darts on January 16 and 17.
Would prime Phil Taylor beat Luke Littler?
A match between Taylor at the top of his game and Luke Littler would surely be one of the most high-quality games of darts in history – and The Power believes he would come out on top.
The 16-time World Champion said: “I’ve had my day but I would have loved to play Luke at my best, we’d have had a cracking game. I think I’d have beaten him but I’m not sure!”
Taylor retired from the PDC Tour in 2018, before returning to the Senior game in 2022 until he retired for good in 2024.